From Deseret News archives:
Run
Film review
Every once in awhile a movie comes along with a title that perfectly describes what it is. Such is the case with "Run," a mindless chase picture that boasts lots of well-done stunts but hasn't a brain in its head.
Patrick Dempsey, the young actor of such comedies as "In the Mood" and "Can't Buy Me Love," stars here as a Boston law student and poker-playing whiz who is hired to drive a Porsche to Atlantic City.
When he has car trouble along the way, Dempsey stops in an unnamed city and takes in an illegal poker game in an underground casino. There, he tangles with the brutish son of the mobster who owns the joint. When the son is accidentally killed Dempsey finds himself on the run from the mobsters' henchmen, the city's corrupt cops and just about everyone else in town.
What follows is a nightmarish series of foot-chases, car crashes and narrow escapes that take Dempsey through a bowling alley, a hospital, a dog-race track, a shopping mall, etc. And some of the way he receives aid from the one person who wants to help him a beautiful young woman, of course.
OK, we've seen it all before, but these kinds of movies can still be fun when they employ some cleverness. But "Run" tests audience patience with one dumb twist after another while trying to decide whether to be an outlandish slapstick comedy or a tension-filled thriller. The result is that it fails at both.
For example, there's the slapstick sequence when Dempsey is about to be thrown from a building and saves himself by grabbing hold of the pants of one of his assailants. The pants naturally rip, leaving the would-be killer in his underwear while Dempsey flails about, hanging from the ledge literally by a thread.
Then there's the gruesome moment when Dempsey is in a position to try and help a pair of cops who've been trying to kill him. One of the two seems to be a nice guy and we get hints that he may turn against his partner and help Dempsey. But instead both die a horrible death, after which Dempsey walks away and makes a flippant remark.
So what is this Harold Lloyd or James Bond?
The movie can't decide and audiences are likely to give up guessing long before either of the above scenes come into play.
"Run" is rated R for violence, profanity and drug use.
Recent comments
The title here describes what anyone who watches such
balderdash...
Avi Green | Dec. 14, 1999 at 11:01 a.m.
Cast: Patrick Dempsey, Kelly Preston, Ken Pogue.
Find a Movie Theater
- Spartans' Dick Tomey to retire 9:57 p.m.
- Seabrook's OT goal lifts Blackhawks 9:55 p.m.
- Birthdays for Monday, Nov. 16 9:50 p.m.
- Attorney to write book about sniper 9:49 p.m.
- Police seek clues in Crawford case 9:48 p.m.
- Blushing Boss at a loss 9:48 p.m.
- Immigrant tuition bill gets push 9:42 p.m.
- U.S. help has strings attached 9:42 p.m.
- Photo: Fort Hood victim mourned 9:41 p.m.
- Unhappy holidays for charities? 9:41 p.m.
- BYU happy to escape with victory
228 - TCU creams U.
222 - Editorial: Mormons and gay rights
206 - Will state consider gay rights law?
149 - Letters: Strange breed in Utah
133 - Can BYU root for (ick) Utah Utes?
131 - RSL heads to MLS title game
124 - Utes remain silent about BCS
120 - Celtics crush Jazz
104 - TCU stays 4th in AP; Y. 19th, U. 23rd
90
CNN is hardly raw news free of analysis and without bias.
Playing lousy is never good. If it were, BYU would have been a monster after...
TCU's footballers aren't any better than BYU's or Utah's, but they are better...
Hey all of you 2A teams and fans. Is San Juan so predictable? Im not sure....
BYU has been up and down under the watch of Bronco. IF I hear them say "its...
Thank you Jerry Sloan for 20 years of coaching the Jazz. But it is time to...
2004 was our year. 2008 was our year. 2009 looks to be TCU's year. I say...
True, football does make the most money and it has traditionally drawn the...
You summed it up perfectly -- also my reasons for voting ABB next year --...
Why add Sand Diego or UNLV? If you are adding programs becase they have been...



